Insert Your Own “Desert Island Reading” Joke Here

So this is cool: Michael Swanwick, who has published both a new novel (The Dragons of Babel) and a new collection of short stories (The Dog Said Bow-Wow) in the last four months, unwinds by writing short-shorts, sealing them in a bottle, then destroying every other copy or draft of the novel that exists on paper or hard drive. And then he gives it away—”usually to a charity auction or such, but sometimes to a friend,” he explains. “The owner of the bottle, whoever he or she is, can either read the story or else possess the object—but cannot do both.” (via Boing Boing)